Alone on Christmas
by SparkELee
Summary: My first Mac and Lindsay story! One Shot!


Alone on Christmas

Mac gazed around his office one last time before shutting off the light and heading to the elevator.

It was late, even for him. Almost midnight, in fact. Midnight on Christmas Eve. In all fairness, he wasn't supposed to have been there until 11:45. His shift had officially ended at 6, but a double homicide changed that.

He, Flack and Lindsay had taken the case and the three of them had worked until 11:30 before he finally sent them home, insisting they go ahead, that he'd be right behind them.

Mac stepped off the elevator on the ground floor and headed out into the New York winter.

He started to make his way towards the garage but a movement out of the corner of his eye stopped him. A small figure was making their way across the street, heading towards Central Park. Normally, this wasn't a surprise to him, but the figure had come from the same direction as him and he hadn't seen anyone else from the time he'd left his office until he'd stepped off the elevator.

He took a few steps towards the figure, squinting in an attempt to make out a distinguishing feature. Then the person turned their face to the right and Mac smiled.

It was Lindsay. She was heading towards the park because of the lights. He'd heard her mention to Stella that she'd been walking home through the park because she liked the way the lights lit up at night.

A moment later, his smile turned to a frown. It might be Christmas Eve and the park might be well lit but she shouldn't be walking home that way this close to midnight, at least not alone.

He turned and followed her, keeping back just far enough that she couldn't hear his steps.

They reached the park and she started in. A few minutes in, she stopped near a small pond. Her eyes came to rest on the twinkling lights intertwined in the branches of the trees surrounding the frozen water.

"I'm a big girl, you know." She told him without turning around. He'd stepped out of sight when she'd come to a stop but he wasn't really all that surprised that she figured out she was being followed.

"How long?" he asked, coming to stand next to her.

"Since I saw your reflection in the store window across from the lab." She replied, offering him a sly smile.

He tried not to underestimate his people but she always somehow managed to make him feel like he never gave her enough credit.

"I should have known better." He replied with a chuckle. His eyes rested on her face, her cheeks were red from the cold but her brown eyes were bright and sparkling.

She winked at him and turned her gaze back to the lights.

"So why didn't you go home?" he questioned, turning his back to the lights.

She shrugged. "Nothing really to go home to I guess." She told him off handedly.

"Still…." He trailed off, not really sure of what else to say.

"Christmas at home, back in Montana… It's huge… Here…. I don't have anything… And after the year I've had…. I'd rather just pretend like Christmas doesn't exist, because then it's just another day." She explained, her voice low and slightly strained now.

He nodded in understanding. He could relate to her feelings. He didn't really celebrate Christmas anymore either, not since the passing of his wife.

He studied her profile intently. Her expression was somber, her eyes gazing off into the distance…. He knew what she'd been through, her past year had been nothing short of hell and he'd had a front row seat to all of it.

"Wow, well look at me, the Christmas killer." She joked, lowering her head a bit.

He laughed at her choice of words. "You aren't the Christmas killer…." He told her through his chuckling.

She smiled at his laughter. Something about it made her feel a little more at home, it was warm and inviting.

They enjoyed the moment for a few minutes before she turned to face him.

"Ok. I'm going to go home now. And you don't need to follow me. I can take care of myself." She assured him, resting her hand on his arm. He swore he could feel the warmth radiating through his jacket.

Outside of Stella, he didn't really interact socially with women much anymore, but he was pretty sure the feeling in the pit of his stomach was nerves. The woman in front of him had been a breath of fresh air to him ever since she'd set foot in his lab.

His brain had all but convinced him that having any sort of feeling for Lindsay Monroe was wrong, she was his co-worker, specifically his employee and he couldn't do that, he couldn't break that rule.

But the part of him… The only part of his old self… The man he'd been before Claire had died… That part told him that rules sometimes had to be broken in order to preserve one's happiness.

"Good night Mac. Merry Christmas." She whispered as she pulled her hand back and started back into the park, away from him.

_I should say something, do something… I don't know what to do… I can't just…. I don't think I should…_

He wasn't really sure what possessed him to do what he did, but he decided not to question it.

A moment later, Lindsay felt something lightly hit her in the back. She stopped and reached back to feel her coat. It was cold and wet. She looked at the ground. The splattered remains of a snowball were at her feet.

She lifted her head to look at Mac, her mouth open in shock.

He wasn't making eyes contact. He was looking off into the distance, his hands in his pocket, whistling softly.

She narrowed her eyes at the man who still wasn't looking her way. She didn't even think as she ran her hand along the snow covered fence to her right. She quickly packed the snow between her hands and threw it back, hitting him square in the neck.

Almost instantly, his shoulders came up and his hands quickly swept the snow off his collar.

"At least you don't throw like a girl." He called out as he scooped up another handful of snow.

She followed suit and quickly threw another one at him before taking off into the trees, in hopes of hiding.

He was only a few steps behind her but she'd found a hiding place among a small grouping of trees.

He loaded up snowballs in each hand and began searching for her, his footsteps making no sound in the soft powder.

She bent over slightly behind the trees, making snowballs in preparation for his inevitable discovery of her location.

A moment later, a bevy of snow came down on top of her. He'd managed to sneak up behind her and dump an armful on top of her.

She grabbed onto his coat as she fell back into the snow, laughing. He fell just to the side of her, breathing heavy.

"I never took you for the snowball fighting type." She told him as she pushed herself up to the sitting position after a few moments. He stood up and offered her his hands and pulled her up.

She tucked her hands in his and he pulled her to her feet. His gaze fell to her face. She had snow in her hair and a few flakes were sticking to her eyelashes. She was smiling at him and for a moment, he could barely breathe.

He was about to respond to her statement he realized she was looking up into evergreen tree they'd been standing underneath.

"What?" He asked, following her gaze with one of his own.

She pointed upwards as she met his eyes. "Mistletoe. Found primarily in Europe. Did you know that despite the common Christmas use, it's actually a-" She started to tell him but he cut her off.

He decided to stop thinking and just act. Right in the middle of her explanation about the origins of Mistletoe, he quickly leaned forward and covered his lips with hers.

For a moment, she froze. Mac was kissing her. Her boss was kissing her! _This… This isn't… We shouldn't…_ All thoughts ceased as her body took over. She found herself grabbing the lapels of his jacket, hauling herself closer to him.

His hands, which had previously been resting on her upper arms, released them and he wrapped one arm around her waist and buried the other in her snow covered hair.

Her lips were warm against his as her fingers gripped his shoulders intensely.

A moment later, he ended the kiss, pulling back, but not releasing her.

Lindsay sucked in a breath of air smiled. "Parasite." She said, finishing the sentence she'd started before he'd cut her off with his mouth.

He laughed at her as he finally released her. "Only you would continue your sentence even after being kissed." He joked as they made their way back to the sidewalk.

She giggled and nodded. "Walk me home?" She asked him softly as she turned to look at him, her brown eyes shown with hope.

He grinned down at her. Maybe he'd celebrate Christmas after all…

He wrapped an arm around her waist. "I was going to."

FINIS


End file.
